Report of the National Library Service for the Year Ended 31 March 1958 | Page 8

libraries, two are now members of the School Library Service staff, and one the librarian of the Central Military District. The two holders of UNESCO Fellowships are consolidating their training by carrying out practical work in the Delhi Public Library for three months.
1958 PROFESSIONAL COURSE
This course began on 4 March with 17 New Zealand students and the three Indonesian students who have been working in libraries in New Zealand since February 1957.
Four students have a master's and nine a bachelor's degree in arts, one a bachelor's degree in music, and two are holders of the New Zealand Library Association's Certificate.
NEW ZEALAND LIBRARY ASSOCIATION TRAINING COURSE

Part II of this course was held at the Library School from 14 January to
15 February. Twenty-two students attended and all were recommended for the award of the Association's certificate.
1957 SHORT COURSE
A short course for librarians and library assistants mainly from smaller public libraries was held from 12 to 31 August. There were 21 students from the following public libraries: Birkenhead, Blenheim, Dargaville, Devonport, Hawera, Howick, Huntly, Inglewood, Kaiapoi, Kaikohe, Kaitaia, Martinborough, Mataura, Nelson Institute, Otaki, Palmerston, Rangiora, Taumarunui, Upper Hutt, Waiuku, Warkworth, and a field librarian from the Country Library Service, Hamilton.
In addition to lectures and practical exercises, several hours were set aside for the informal discussion of problems and special questions raised by the students. Senior members of National Library Service headquarters joined the staff of the school in these discussions.
Limits imposed by the size of the school made it necessary to defer acceptance of some students eligible for this course.
A short course on similar lines will be offered again in August this year to librarians or library assistants of small public libraries who are not able to take advantage of other means of training.
As in previous years we wish to acknowledge the valuable contribution made to these courses by visiting lecturers and the libraries which lend us books.

SECTION IV--NATIONAL LIBRARY CENTRE
The National Library Centre, in addition to acting as the division responsible for the headquarters work of the Service, has continued to promote the cooperative use of library resources. Staff at headquarters are still working under very difficult conditions and there is a continuing and pressing need both for administrative working space and adequate housing for the book collections.
Inter-library Loan--All inter-library loan requests for books and periodicals the location of which is not known are sent to the National Centre. Items which are not found in the Union Catalogue of non-fiction books, the Union List of Serials, or other bibliographical sources are listed in the weekly publication Book Resources, which is sent to 39 libraries for checking.
1956-57 1957-58 Number % Number %
Interloan cards received 7,197 100.0 7,640 100.0 Supplied from National Library Service 4,312 59.9 4,411 57.7 Supplied from other Wellington libraries 171 2.4 139 1.8 Supplied from Union Catalogue records 949 13.2 1,055 13.8 Supplied from Union List of Serials 101 1.4 173 2.3 Not supplied for various reasons 641 8.9 664 8.7 Listed on Book Resources 1,023 14.2 1,198 15.7
Four hundred and seventy-five titles not found in any library were ordered for national stock.
The number of requests received by the centre represents probably less than half the total volume of traffic among New Zealand libraries, the proportion of direct interloan being higher in the special and university libraries. Interloan was devised and introduced among libraries by the New Zealand Library Association and in its operation the responsibility of the National Library Service is not merely to act as a clearing house but to provide all the material it reasonably can to make the system effective. Other libraries participate reciprocally, or lend so that they may the more freely borrow. The contribution, as has always been expected, is a varying one and one or two libraries may consider that they have a substantial and unrealisable credit balance in their favour. The point beyond which certain libraries may feel they cannot go in the common interest has not so far been determined administratively but it may be necessary to consider this. If so, it is better that it be done quantitatively on the basis of a common library policy rather than that the present procedure should become an embarrassment or be administered capriciously or conservatively.
Central Bureau for Library Book Imports--After the introduction of import control in January the Government approved that the facilities of the bureau should be extended to meet the situation and assure libraries of their essential supplies. The bureau was set up in 1940 as a responsibility of the Country Library Service as a result of discussions between the Government and the Library Association. Because libraries undertook to avoid unnecessary duplication and develop cooperative ways of recording and using their holdings, the 50 per cent cut in book imports made in 1939 was restored and the necessary machinery established to